70SURPRISE! You thought I was dead? Nay, I say! I have returned with another chapter of this wonderful story! But yeah it's been a while, huh? Sorry for the wait, just been a little drained for a bit. That, and I still have a life to live, no matter how many times I tell the world that I would absolutely love to always stay at home with no consequences... but I digress (what's been happening will be explained in the AN below). Anyways, I've also been thinking about how I want to move the story forward. There have been some good ideas, a few of these ideas you will very much enjoy, or at least I hope so.
I have also been considering increasing the length of the chapters, but I want to save myself the agony of making a 10k-long chapter, only to never bother finishing it. I might write a 5k chapter or more though... but never 10k or above.
Also, one more thing before I go. I'm planning on posting a short one-shot for the new fic I mentioned, which should give you all an idea of the premise. I'm going to start giving it more chapters near Godrick the Radiant's end, but if enough people want to see more of it, I'll consider posting a few chapters for the fic beforehand.
Anyhow, onto another chapter of Godrick the Radiant.
Let's go!
Godrick the Radiant
The Break of Dawn
Waking up in my bedroom will always be a novel experience for me. Waking up somewhere I didn't recognize for a moment before the realization hit me, and I remembered what had happened to me. Another nice part of it all is the fact that I got to see the sunrise every morning, and I simply watched it as it rose from the horizon, and shed it's incandescence upon the city of Leyndell. But I supposed now wasn't the time to reminisce.
As I got up from my bed and began to clothe myself, I started to think about how I was going to prepare for my training. All demigods possess a certain level of competency in the arts of combat. Hell, even the original Godrick was still far beyond the reach of the average warrior and captain of the armies within the Lands Between. A large part of this was because of his grafting increasing his physical power, and giving him unique traits. But another reason why not many would oppose him openly is due to his skill, lacking as it may have been in comparison to the other demigods.
Godrick searched for power anywhere he could find it, but he didn't bother learning of the two powers that governed much of the Lands Between
Sorcery and Incantations
Some of the greatest warriors in the Lands Between used the power of Sorcery and Incantations to become unmatched, and I sought to follow in their paths. Though another problem that barred my way was the weakness of body I possessed, but for now, I decided to leave such thoughts for later. I had training to get to.
With that thought in mind, I finished clothing myself, grabbed any personal effects of mine, and headed out to the training grounds.
~~~~~Break of Dawn~~~~~
The Training Grounds.
As I arrived at my desired destination, I looked around at the training grounds, bathed in golden rays coming through the open roof of the training grounds proper. I looked around further in search of my father, and I found him looking at the current assortment of weapons on one of the walls nearby. He turned around, noticing my arrival, and beckoned for me to come over.
I walked up to him, and we stared at each other for a moment. We did so for what felt like a minute before the silence was broken.
"What kind of weapon do you see yourself wielding?" He asked, speaking up for a moment, as my gaze turned to the massive halberd he was wielding. He seemed to hold the weapon in a comfortable grasp, like wielding a weapon almost as tall as him wasn't tiring in the slightest, and it probably wasn't, not for him. Godriv was a large man, let that not be forgotten, most likely something he inherited from our ancestor Godfrey, but I was much smaller compared to him, not to mention my physical weakness and frailty.
"Something small, quick, and light." I responded as I looked up at Godriv's face. He nodded, and he led me over to one of the weapon racks, grabbed a wooden shortsword, most likely used for practice, and threw it over to me while he walked away. He walked to stand in the center of the training grounds, and he motioned for me to stand in front of him, so I plodded on over to do so.
"Today will mark the beginning of your daily training. You will train in the arts of combat so you may live up to the legacy of the Golden Lineage and to the legacy of our lord Godfrey. You may be frail, my son, but I can already see your determination, so I doubt you will disappoint." My father said as I got used to the weapon's weight. "But for now, we will train you to get used to that weapon. Now come on, show me your stance!" He shouted as I shifted into a fighting stance, spreading my feet wide, but still on my toes, ready to move.
He stared at my stance for a moment, before he nodded to himself. "Now I want to see a downward slash." He said, and I shifted my body to slash downward, my focus was interrupted by his voice. "You're far too rigid, relax your body. Now, slash. I want to see you cut with that sword 100 times before we move on to the next move!" He shouted at me, and I began to internally sweat as I realized something...
This is gonna be a long and painful ride, huh?
~~~~~Break of Dawn~~~~~
After some time...
With my sweat-drenched hands, I managed to finish the final drill that my father had prepared for this training session, and I collapsed onto the floor. Everything hurts too much to be able to actually move, and I kept taking deep breaths to attempt to regain some of my energy. This daily training had turned out to be much more rigorous than I ever expected. I took another deep breath before I sat up and glanced at my practice weapon.
A shortsword did have its uses, as was smaller and faster than your average blade. Though after this training session, a dagger might be the weapon I'd primarily be using as my melee weapon. Well, until I grew older, or somehow found a way to fix the issue with my body. With that thought in mind, I managed to push through the unimaginable pain and I got up on my feet before I attempted to hobble over to the weapons rack, and proceeded to fall over. This was going to be a common theme during training, wasn't it?
I moved to get up once again, pushing my body to the limits and attempting to draw even the slightest amount of energy to get up. But then, I felt a strong hand that had picked me up and placed me on a pillar nearby, allowing me to rest for a moment. I turned to my right to see my father taking a seat next to me and allowing himself to relax for a moment before he met my gaze.
"You did well today, Godrick." He said, continuing to stare at me for a time, before he looked away, seemingly thinking to himself. "I knew you had it in you to complete the drills, but it still fills me with pride to watch you do it." He said, giving me a soft pat on the shoulder, which was appreciated considering how frail I was at times.
"Thank you, Father." I said, as that was all I can reply with. And soon after, silence fell over the training ground, as the both of us sat there, enjoying the quiet. I'm unsure if I should've said something to break the silence, but Godriv saved me the trouble by breaking it himself.
"Perhaps you should go see your mother. She wished to speak with you once you had completed training for the day." He said awkwardly, before he got up and decided to leave, knowing that I had recovered enough to probably head to her room to speak with her.
After I got a hold of my bearings, I got up and began to head to my mother's room. After my birth, her health had begun to decline over the years, to the point she was rendered bedridden, and was left to rest within her own personal quarters. She was still the kind and frail mother that I knew, but she was being forced to suffer through the curse of our Golden Lineage. I planned on hopefully rectifying that, sooner or later.
After I continued down the corridor, I took a left and found myself at the doors to my mother's personal quarters. I was about to knock on the door, but I hesitated for a moment, before deciding to knock, and announced my presence.
"Godrick... is that you?" A soft and quiet voice sounded out from beyond the door. I knew it to be that of my mother, Anneta's, voice.
"Yes, it's me, mother. May I come in?" I asked, as I placed my hand on the door to open it. I heard a soft affirmation at my question, and I pushed the door open. My mother's quarters were quite similar to my own. A beautiful room of what can only be described as golden marble. There was an exquisite carpet covering much of the floor, and a table with some chairs to be sat on. At the back of the room lay the bed, where Anneta was resting.
"Ah... Godrick. Today was the first day of your training, wasn't it?" She asked me, her voice much more clear now. I had taken it upon myself to move one of the chairs to Anneta's bedside so I could speak to her, and allow my poor muscles to rest after the workout I had just finished.
"Yes, it was. It was extremely tough, but I'm happy that I'm actually learning how to fight. I'd rather not be in danger just because I couldn't bother to learn how to swing a sword or a dagger." I said, letting out a chuckle at the thought, with my mother letting out a soft giggle at the idea. Learning how to fight, and mastering magic would be important to my survival. Perhaps learning a few unique techniques to add to my repertoire, later on, would also help.
"It's good to see that you're happy that you're learning." My mother said, letting out a relieved sigh at my joy. "I had thought you had no interest in training with weapons, due to how you are physically, but I guess you're determination more than makes up for it."
"Thank you, mother. I appreciate the compliment." I replied, a wry expression on my face. My mother continued to breathe in slowly, as the conversation had most likely left her slightly out of breath. When she had finally recovered her breath, she looked at me once more.
"Godrick... I've been wanting to ask you a question. One regarding your future." She said, her voice becoming more solemn as she looked me right in the eyes. I'd rarely ever seen her so serious in this new life of mine, so this was no doubt important.
"Ask away." I answered, the confidence in my voice evident.
"What do you intend to do with your life? You're an unimaginably smart, and mature child. I have no doubt you will go far, but I'm still quite curious about where you intend to go." She asked, her question beginning to seep into the very core of my being. Perhaps she wished to know if her son held great ambition. When I was about to start thinking about my reply to the question, I realized... I already knew my answer.
"I want to do many things. I wish to save our Golden Lineage from this accursed frailty. I wish to learn all the secrets of incantations and sorceries. I want to lift the Lands Between into a new age, with me at its head." I answered, quietly and solemnly, with steel that I didn't know I had. I had shown my ambition, and now it was time for me to go all the way.
"I wish to be Elden Lord."
With those words spoken, silence descended upon the quarters of my mother. She stared at me quietly, and I stared right back. The tension was so thick, one could cut through it as if it were butter. Our eyes were locked for a time, before my mother let out a soft smile, and took hold of my hand.
"You will fulfill your dreams. This, I know for sure." She said, warmth cascading from her voice. It was good to know that there was somebody who believed in me and my ambitions.
"Thank you for answering my question, Godrick. For now, I need my rest." She finished, as she let go of my hand, and began to slowly fall back to sleep.
"May you rest well, Mother." I said, and I leave the room, closing the door behind me. I let out a relaxed sigh before I remember that there were other things I wished to try out before the day was done.
I begin to make my way over to a location that I had begun to frequent recently. A place that nobody would expect a noble to enter...
As I finally reached my destination, I made my way over to a smaller door and wrenched it open. Entering the room, I found myself surrounded by slightly dusty bottles, books, and all manner of preserved material. This was the Perfumer's quarters, and it was exactly the place I wanted to be. Perfumers were a well-respected, and honored group of physicians, doctors, and healers. They swore an oath similar to that of the Hippocratic oath. That they would never do harm to anybody involved.
That changed when the Shattering came. It upended much of Leyndell's society during the time of the game and left the perfumers fractured. The art of the perfumers was also spread beyond Leyndell's walls during the Shattering, which meant heretical and depraved perfumers became the norm outside of Leyndell's walls. The reason I wanted to learn the art of the perfumers is that it would allow me to recruit them to the perfumers to my banner, as they served as excellent commanders during the Shattering.
Beyond that fact, I also wished to find the limits of perfuming, and if any aromatics could be made... permanent. Imagine the possibilities. An eternal aromatic that granted unique and permanent boons to those that consumed it? It would allow me to strengthen myself, and establish elite forces that could act as my guards, or even as my assassins. Not to mention the fact that it could help me heal my body, and bring the failing parts of the Golden Lineage under my sway for a chance to save their bloodline.
I shook my head and reminded myself that those were merely theories and hypotheses. It would take time to test them out, but time is something I had in abundance. I had perhaps a decade before Godfrey and his tarnished were banished from the Lands Between, and it would be a few decades after that until the Shattering truly began, so I had time. And so, I studied for hours, learning, experimenting, and studying the art of perfuming. I was but a beginner and it would take years to truly master the art and bring it to new heights, but I knew it was a worthy time investment.
Throughout my experimentation, one thought prevailed in my mind. Could I perhaps prevent the Shattering? That would require dealing with Ranni in some capacity and stopping Godwyn's assassination. I didn't know if it was possible, but I would try.
If I couldn't prevent the Shattering from happening? Then I would strike down all those who opposed me and my dream. I would win the greatest war the world would ever see.
No matter the cost.
End
Godrick the Radiant
Surprise! Late April Fools! You didn't expect to see me today, did you? Well, rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated.
Anyways, y'all must've been wondering "Where the hell did you go?" well, lemme tell ya. Life caught up to my ass, just to beat it black and blue. I had to deal with a lot of studying, and getting used to some new hobbies I've been picking up. Boxing is one of them. This chapter took a while because I didn't know how I wanted to write it for a while, but then I finally decided to finish it up today and get the chapter ready for release.
So in regards to this chapter... It's more Godrick getting ready and learning all he can so he can absolutely crush everybody else when the Shattering finally comes to his doorstep. The weapon training is something that Godrick will struggle with for a time until he finds his groove, but he will be improving. Perfumer arts are something I wasn't expecting to add to the story until the thought hit me one day while I was playing Elden Ring. I don't really have too much of a plan formed for the next arc after this, but I have a general idea of how I want this arc to go. Once it's done? Then we can get into the action.
I'm probably gonna keep uploads a little slow until Shadow of the Erdtree releases so we can get all the story beats from the DLC, but Godrick won't have any foreknowledge about the DLC which should be fun to write.
Also, in regards to the one-shot I mentioned in previous chapters, it's something you all will hopefully enjoy. It's related to the Souls trilogy, and one of the more esoteric parts of those games' lore.
But yeah, all in all, I think I wrote this chapter well. Do give some constructive criticism for this story so I can improve my writing style. That's all from me for today, ladies and gentlemen. I'll hopefully be seeing you in the coming weeks and or months. Hope y'all have a good one, bye!